The scent of vanilla tickled her nostrils as she closed her eyes under the steaming water of the shower and leaned against the caramel tiles of the wall, allowing her tense muscles to relax. Maddy didn't want to know why on earth Logan would have a vanilla-scented shampoo at his house, but she could totally guess.

Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped a soft white towel around her body and got a glimpse of her reflection on the foggy, round mirror; her wet hair was a mess, a storm-whipped sea of wild waves cascading over her exposed shoulders, and her eyes were still a bit puffy, black circles lurking underneath them. But there was something new, something different about them: a mischievous flame was flickering inside of her hazel irises, like the fluttering light of a melting candle in a dark room.

"Come on, princess!" shouted a now familiar voice from the other side of the door. "Are you planning on staying there for the entire night?"

Ugh, not him again.

"I'm almost done!" she shouted back, her eyes narrowing. His voice was disturbing her peace.

She dropped the towel to the floor and put on her washed clean underwear before sliding Carter's hoodie over her head -the same black hoodie from before. She pulled up her tight safety shorts, glad to be rid of her school uniform's skirt, and then grabbed a pair of dark grey sweatpants Logan had given her. They were too big and looked extremely baggy on her, but at least they were comfortable. When she was finally done, she unlocked the door and pushed it open, taking her first step outside.

"I finished, you can-" she stopped in the middle of her sentence, completely forgetting what she wanted to say.

Carter was standing in front of her.

Only in a towel.

Which sat probably too low on his hips. Dangerously low.

What the actual hell is-

What the actual hell is he doing?

Maddy stared at the godly sight of the man in front of her, eyes wide, mouth half-open. The elegant collarbones, the sculpted chest, the six-pack abs, the hip bones... Maddy wasn't so sure she could take it. Her pupils were huge as she fixed her eyes on the flexing muscles of his toned arms. Her cheeks were on fire.

Dang it, Maddy, be mature.

But then she noticed.

Oh my...

Every inch of his left arm was covered in ink. Twisting vines beginning at the knuckles of his hand were climbing their way up to his shoulder, a cluster of bizarre objects trapped between the poisonous, yet beautiful thorns: a small cross, an old rusty compass, a withered rose, a chain forming the infinity symbol, a black gloomy cloud...

And then there it was, starting from his one broad shoulder, stretching to his collarbone and part of his torso and ending low near his neck. A fine, feminine phoenix, struggling to free herself from the vine that was chained around one of her hooked talons. Maddy held her breath. Although the tattoo was nothing but black ink, she could almost see the crimson and orange flames of fire engulfing her feathers, which were every shade of red in Maddy's imagination - scarlet and mahogany and sangari, burning, yet soft to the touch. She could almost see the way the bird was frantically flapping her firebright, outstretched wings, fighting to fly again.

"The phoenix rises from the ashes, you dumbhead. How could you not know that?" a familiar voice echoed inside her head. Her brother's voice.

"I know I'm hot," mocked Carter, pulling her back to reality. "No need to stare."

She blinked, almost in a zombie-like state, her mind all crumbled up by the view in front of her. Hell no. She couldn't deal with this right now. She couldn't deal with him. Not when he was only in a bloody towel.

She fixed her eyes on her bandaged, injured feet, trying to hide her insane blush. "Just get in," she said moodily, then passed by him, hitting him with her shoulder, and flied down the stairs in a feverish daze.

Trying to shake the thought of Carter standing in front of her half-naked as if it was nothing, she entered the lounge and sank down into the sofa.

Sia would share the guest room upstairs with Mia, and the black-headed moron from before would sleep in Logan's room with him.

And thus she was left with the couch. Not that she minded it at all, given the fact there was a window with a view to the mountains on her right hand, a hundred-inch television in front of her, a fireplace keeping her warm, and the doorway to the kitchen only a few feet away.

She listened carefully to the sounds of the quiet cottage: the crackling fire radiated off heat that warmed her body as she got comfortable on the sofa. Other than that the house was almost completely quiet. The others had already sleepily crawled into bed, probably asleep by then, apart from Carter who was taking a shower.

Yeah, it would be safer to think about something else, Maddy.

She could smell the wood burning behind the hearth, small sparks jumping cheerfully here and there. Cicadas were trilling outside the house, and, although the sound was faint, it flooded Maddy with relief. She pulled her blanket closer around her for extra heat, nestling up on the sofa.

Her breath and heart rate that had boiled up to a full-blown war of hormones thanks to Carter now began to steady, slow down.

Before she new, she had fallen asleep.